Gregorio Chant Engraving request (for projection slides)
  • MarkB
    Posts: 1,025
    Open letter to Chonak:

    Thank you for the Gregorio Chant Engraver that you make available:
    http://run.gregoriochant.org/cgi/process.pl

    Would it be possible to add another option for paper size?

    I'd like to be able to select a 4x3 ratio for page output.

    The reason for that is that it makes it so much easier to format musical notation for projection on a screen if the engraver's output pages are generated using the same dimensions as the slides for projection. Then I can simply turn each pdf page into a separate jpeg file and insert each full-size jpeg on a different slide. That way the staff formatting is even on both sides of each slide, it looks professional and attractive, and I don't have to spend copious amounts of time cutting or pasting or editing or adjusting images.

    To head off the anti-projection screen naysayers: I have to make projection slides; pastor insists and the congregation prefers the screen to hymnals or printed music. So I'm going to try using the screen to display chant notation when we sing chant; I want to display neumes instead of modern notation when we display chant music.

    If you would please add a 4x3 page layout option to your engraver, I'd greatly appreciate it.

    Thank you.
  • chonakchonak
    Posts: 9,157
    OK: look for page size "custom4x3".
    maina2610176.pdf
    28K
    Thanked by 2CHGiffen MarkB
  • MarkB
    Posts: 1,025
    Thank you very much.

    For a test I retrieved the GABC for Ave Verum from Gregobase. I experimented with increasing the music and font size on your engraver to nearly the maximums, and I added a few (z) codes to the GABC to achieve natural, pleasing line and page breaks.

    For those who have little experience with creating projection slides for Masses, the text and music have to be BIG, BIG, BIG if the slides are to be successful so they can be easily read from everywhere in the church. Makes it challenging to format music to display clearly.

    For those interested in seeing what it would look like as a slide:

    image
    I think this will work splendidly. Thank you, again.
    0001.jpg
    2400 x 1800 - 231K
    0002.jpg
    2400 x 1800 - 354K
    0003.jpg
    2400 x 1800 - 348K
    Thanked by 2CHGiffen tomjaw
  • MarkB
    Posts: 1,025
    And with a little more tweaking of the formatting and adding more (z) codes to the GABC, the music can be arranged on each page using the engraver so that there is room at the bottom of each slide to provide a translation.

    image
    If I have to make slides, I'm going to do it well, and I'm going to maximize the opportunities for edification that it can provide.
    Annotation.png
    729 x 546 - 47K
    Thanked by 2CHGiffen tomjaw
  • chonakchonak
    Posts: 9,157
    If you have to use a black background, it might be good to soften the white to a light gray to avoid the extreme contrast that gets irritating.
    image
    output.jpg
    2400 x 1800 - 251K
  • MarkB
    Posts: 1,025
    It's irritating up close, I agree, but at the distance from which people view in the church it's actually the best option. When I switched from black text/graphics on white background to white text/graphics on black background the response was universally that it was a tremendous improvement in contrast and clarity.
  • chonakchonak
    Posts: 9,157
    This seems to be the successor to the classic use of a large score on an easel!
    Thanked by 3CHGiffen tomjaw a_f_hawkins
  • Carl DCarl D
    Posts: 992
    Thanks for this. I've done chant lines on projection screens occasionally, and had to do a whole lot of by-hand tweaking. And yes, I ended up with white-on-black. Perhaps with translation in light grey or light blue.
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